It's been too long...

It's been a while since I last posted. I've been in Hudsonville, MI since the 19th. I'm visiting my mom while Craig is in Puerto Rico teaching. We both get back to Portland tomorrow night about 40 min. apart. Then a 2 hr. drive to get home. I've missed Craig a LOT...we're together so much of the time since we moved to OR, that it's really strange when we're apart. Just one more sleep...

An hour ago I was watching the National News on ABC and learned that Chris Christie has backed Donald Trump...oh my goodness! What little respect I may have had for him is out the window now. How in the world can he think this is a good idea?! I just don't get it...how can people consider DT as a legitimate candidate? I canNOT see him in international settings! Will he pitch a fit when he thinks some dignitary has been mean to him? Who knows? He's a loose cannon. My only answer is to pray for the next leader of our country...whoever it's going to be, they are going to need it...so are we.

Sweet memories

As we were driving home from Seattle Fri. evening, we passed a free'dway sign that was the exit for Champoeg (pronounced shampooey) State Park. We camped there a couple of times when the boys were young and once or twice just the 2 of us. It's very nice...not too far from Newburg where some friends live. But the best thing about this park is just outside it's gates. There is a reproduced Lewis and Clark encampment. There are volunteers there dressed in period costume, a cabin like the one they would have lived in, a blacksmith and some other things like that. Very interesting. At certain times of the day one of the male volunteers comes out and shows how to load and fire a musket. The boys liked that a lot. 

Seeing that sign brought back memories of the fun the 4 of us had when we went on our 2 week camping trip every summer. We would camp our way up the coast from either our home in southern Calif. or central Calif. Our final destination was Seattle to visit family. We'd stay there with the folks for several days and then camp our way back home. When they old enough, their job was to set up our 2 2man tents and unroll the sleeping bags. We had a good time and we loved the northwest...which is how we ended up moving to OR. I'm so glad we spent our vacations camping...it gives our sons some fun memories to look back on.

Our most recent adventure

Yesterday we decided to do something we have never done before. We drove to Junction City (15 miles or so away) to attend a livestock auction. We weren't looking to buy anything...we just wanted to see what it was like. We got there when they were selling chickens...there were 2 cages with multiple chickens and roosters and a box with a rooster in it. Then there were 2 tiny lambs that were being auctioned off together. Sheep and more lambs, goats...babies and adults, piglets and pigs...really big pigs, calves, cows and steer(s). Some of those critters were pretty good sized. Some of the calves were probably not even a week old...and they were so cute! I told Craig that it's too bad they grow up to be such enormous animals. I think the calves were my favorite. 

I don't know much about auctioneers...mostly I only see them on tv on the car auctions. But this guy seemed pretty good. He'd take a deep breath and rattle on and on for a long time, draw in another big breath and go on. We wondered how he could do it for so long. We had fun and want to learn more.

Gas prices are really good here...$1.76. 2 weeks ago it was $1.79 at one of the stations we go to. Because I had points from purchases I've made at their store, I only paid $1.29 a gal.! That was so wonderful! This store is Fred Meyer, a northwest chain and a Kroger store (like Fry's in Phoenix). It would be nice if gas could stay low for awhile.

It's a mystery

We have a bit of a mystery here on Baker Rd. There are a lot of [mostly] red bricks all over the place. Most of them are near the creek. Some of them are connected with old cement. I was out digging up the bricks today...there are certainly more out there, but I got most of the ones by the creek. We're not sure what the bricks were built into...thus, the mystery. We would love to know what that building wa2s. There's no sign of it now except for the bricks. I'm not sure what we'll do with them, but we'll put them to good use. 

We've gone thru all of our first cord of wood...that was the wood the wood that was dry enough to burn. Now we're into the second cord we bought...the wood that isn't quite dry enough yet. So, starting a fire in the wood stove isn't quite so easy as it was before. Starting our fires has been Craig's job...and that's good because I'm not very good at starting a fire when the wood is dry. 

The laundromat that I have been going to is not a very nice place. It's dirty and over 1/2 the machines don't work. So, I found the next closest laundromat...it's 16 miles from home. But it is much nicer. Because it's also a dry cleaner, there's always a manager there. So if anything is not working, there's someone to tell. And it's clean...in the time it takes me to do my wash, the manager is out sweeping and emptying garbage...twice! Very nice. And it's no more expensive than the other place. I may at some point decide to combine my laundry day and my grocery shopping day to save on the gas. But, since gas is so cheap, I'll leave it the way it is. 

This afternoon I saw Donald Trump's news conference and then a rally he held in New Hampshire. He was pretty tame compared to pre-Iowa caucuses. I was wondering what happened to his belief that if you don't win, you're a loser. I guess he knows now what it's like to be a loser. Maybe he'll decide that the voters are being mean to him and he'll quit. One can always hope.